President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Special Presidential Panel (SPP) charged with the responsibility of undertaking a comprehensive review and reform of the social investment programmes suspended on Friday.
This was disclosed in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President, Media & Publicity, on Saturday.
The panel, which will be headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun, comes 24 hours after Tinubu suspended all social investment programs administered by the National Social Investment Programme Agency, which also includes the school-feeding programme.
Chronicle NG reports that the suspension was in view of the ongoing investigation of alleged mismanagement of the agency and its programs.
According to the statement, ”This Special Presidential Panel is tasked with immediately undertaking a comprehensive review and audit of existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of the social investment programs with a view to implementing a total re-engineering of the financial architecture of the programs with detailed modifications to procedures guiding the programs’ implementation moving forward.”
The statement added that ”the Special Presidential Panel, which is comprised of ministers representing strategic sectors, will ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to the reform effort.
The members of the panel appointed by Tinubu include Wale Edun, Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance (Chairman), and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, as members.
Other members of the panel include Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Muhammad Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation; the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy; Bosun Tijjani; and Ayodele Olawande, Minister of State for Youth.
”Tinubu anticipates that this Special Presidential Panel will validate the confidence reposed in it by winning back all lost public confidence in these vital programs over the years by ushering in a new era of operation based on open and accountable governance frameworks that will prove impervious to abuse and incompetence for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households across our nation” the statement added.
